Thousands of Ghanaian fans gathered at the airport in Accra for over four hours on Monday to give a heroes' welcome to the Black Stars returning from the soccer World Cup after their best performances ever.

Ghana exited the tournament last Friday after losing to Uruguay in the quarter-final match which traveled to extra-time and was decided by penalties in South Africa.

However, the Black Stars still held the flag of Africa high, being the only of the six sides from the continent to advance past the group stages after reaching the last 16 on their debut four years ago.

Cheering fans made their way onto the tarmac, waving flags and mixing the vuvuzelas with local drums to welcome the team.

A red carpet was laid for the team as they made their way from the aircraft which touched down some few minutes to the very early hours of Tuesday.

As the bus strolled from the airport, hordes of fans lined the streets of to wave at their heroes.

“We are very happy with the reception accorded us," said Stephen Appiah.

"Every member of the team was committed to doing something for the nation and we did our best with the support of every fan and the entire Africa.

"We proud of our performance but we want to go to Brazil 2014 and do well there."

The team would go an open-top parade through the streets of Accra before a visit to the Presidency to meet His Excellency John Evans Atta Mills.